This invention relates to a crumb or breadcrumb (referred to as a crumb for simplicity) for use in coating food products, particularly but not exclusively for food products which are frozen for storage before use. The invention also relates to a process for making the crumb. Particularly preferred crumb coatings are suitable for cooking or reheating from the frozen state using a microwave oven. Especially preferred crumb coatings are also suitable for cooking or reheating using a conventional oven, grill or by frying.
The invention also relates to crumb coated food products, which may be cooked or reheated using any of: a microwave oven, conventional oven, grill or by frying, preferably by any of these methods.
Commercially produced crumb may be made by two processes.
Real breadcrumb is derived from bread baked in a traditional manner and subsequently dried. The bread is then comminuted to form crumb particles of a variety of sieve sizes and dried as required for various coating applications.
In the electrolytic process, bread is baked without using yeast in a similar way to unleavened bread and then dried. The bread may be formed as blocks or pellets and then comminuted to form crumbs of various sizes, which are then dried. This kind of bread can form flakes. Such flakes are commonly referred to as Japanese style crumb.
Commercially produced crumb may deteriorate and become stale after three to six months due to the effects of moisture, microbial damage and a breakdown in the molecular structure of the crumb. This staling manifests itself as a toughness and chewiness of the crumb and may be accompanied by off-flavors. The presence of water is a key factor in this deterioration process.
When commercial crumb is applied to a food substrate such as fish, meat, dairy products, vegetables or fruit followed by flash frying, a crisp coated product may be produced, irrespective of the quality of the crumb prior to frying. However, the fried crumb will deteriorate over time during chilled or frozen storage, despite the fact that the oil introduced during frying acts as a moisture barrier. The rate of deterioration may depend on the quality of crumb used. If a chilled or frozen fried crumb product is heated from the frozen slab using a microwave oven this results in a crumb, which is wet and soggy and therefore unpalatable. Such products are generally recovered from frozen or chilled in the oven and are cooked for 20 minutes, longer at 200° C., or longer. These products cannot be regarded as microwavable.
Problems due to crumb deterioration lead to an inconsistent end product, which does not have a sufficient predetermined shelf life. Variation in the quality of the crumb can lead to a breakdown of the crumb particles causing an excess build-up of fine particles. This results in a poor coating quality.
WO 99/44439 discloses a method of manufacture of a breadcrumb food product wherein a breadcrumb is contacted with an aqueous solution of a gelling agent, followed by drying and application as a coating to a food product.